I’ve have an Edge Pro Apex that when I go to sharpen seems to have a clattering or vibrating sort of motion on the “push-in” stroke. It seems as though something is abrading the rod as it passes through the black plastic piece. Is this a normal occurrence? Is it a bad idea to spray WD-40 on a paper towel and wipe down that section of the rod?

Am I right that a little swarf while sharpening is normative, necessary, and/or preferred when sharpening with the Edge Pro?

I know that the stock stones soak up the water pretty quickly (they've often seemed to dry before I even turn the arm back over), and I've had it in mind from my failed freehand efforts that there should be a little slurry. That said, moisture and an upside down surface with moisture on it never seemed to be what was intended.

If water is used, but everything for the most part otherwise looks dry, is that doing it wrong? I often added water once I saw metal being removed to keep from clogging up the stone.

Keeping the stone wet is good.
Necessary really, and yes, some swarf is required too.
Some stones work better with a little mud, but not so dribbly.
Clogging up the stone isn't a problem really, just keep it wet.
If it seems it's not cutting anymore you can rinse the stone.
Everyone has their own technique, but I wipe the face of the stone with a finger to distribute the water too.

When adding water I always wipe the sides and back of the stone, the holder blocks, etc.
It only takes a second.

Otherwise, whenever you stop or pause for any reason, keep the stone facing up.

Sorry to repeat, but raising the back of the rig keeps wet stuff where it belongs.

Otherwise keep it all clean clean clean, wiping it all down frequently.
Slows things down a little, but that could be a good thing.
You might be using too much water as well?
Stock stones?

You may be right about the water. I know the experience often entailed plenty of wiping in between steps. I probably go wrong waiting for kids to sleep before sitting down to sharpen. Sometimes the late hour finds me tired and irritable and impatient. Yes, I've been using the stock stones. Shapton Glass 500/1000/2000 are due for delivery tomorrow.

1) Make sure that your stones are damp but do not have any "free" water that can collect stone dust and run down into the plastic block. I use a microcloth to dab any excess water on the stones.
2) I use spray on silicon aerosol for both cleaning and lube here. So I remove the stone arm & take it outside (so you don't contaminate anything else with silicon) spray it and wipe until the cloth is clean. Secondly, I spray a small piece of cloth (1" X 1") until wet and push it through the plastic block, pulling it backward & forwards until clean. Don't use CRC56 or WD40 as these may cause the plastic to expand and make the problem worse.
3) Then reassemble and keep any grinding residues away from the plastic block.

If you are still having problems then here is the next solution that I used. Change the brass tube spacer for the "quick change spring" here https://www.chefknivestogo.com/edprocospfor.html Then VERY carefully drill out the plastic block hole for the stone arm. So that is the drill size has to be exactly the outside diameter of the brass tube. Cut the brass tube to be about 5mm longer than the hole in the plastic block and carefully insert the brass tube into the block so that a couple of mm of the brass tube extend out of either end of the block. Insert the stone arm and make sure you still do 1,2 & 3 above.

The ultimate solution is to do the <sharpknives> rod mods. This not cheap but is a great solution for the above and other limitations of the EdgePro. There is plenty of posts about this on the old forum.

Also, if you are still using the standard EP stones consider trying a couple of good third party stones. They are night & day better.

Best of luck & please come back with any further queries

Cheers Grant

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!

@Joe. Once I've got the rod into the rod bearing, mine is smooth & doesn't chatter. I am pretty OCD about keeping it all clean and using the aerosol silicon spray for lube.

What I do find, when grinding really acute angles, say 10º & under, is that the "swing" of the arm side-to-side gets to be a bit more limited. This is not a problem with the rod bearing per se, but more an issue of the overall geometry of the EP Apex. So I end up sharpening the knife by "sections", which can be interesting!

Cheers Grant

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!

What I do find, when grinding really acute angles, say 10º & under, is that the "swing" of the arm side-to-side gets to be a bit more limited. This is not a problem with the rod bearing per se, but more an issue of the overall geometry of the EP Apex. So I end up sharpening the knife by "sections", which can be interesting!

Ditto with the "swing."
I try to keep all stone and metal contact on the table,
mostly to reduce angle discrepancies.
Recently sharpened a few long knives for a friend, like machetes and a stonkin" Gaucho knife.
That's a lot of repositiong, "sectioning" and overlapping!

1) Make sure that your stones are damp but do not have any "free" water that can collect stone dust and run down into the plastic block. I use a microcloth to dab any excess water on the stones.

This is helpful. I think I thought it needed to be just beyond damp to work. So the water is more about keeping the stone damp, than keeping the metal bits from gumming up in the stone? Just trying to determine if I need to disabuse myself of the idea of 'swarf doing the work' as it concerns the Edge Pro system.

2) I use spray on silicon aerosol for both cleaning and lube here. So I remove the stone arm & take it outside (so you don't contaminate anything else with silicon) spray it and wipe until the cloth is clean. Secondly, I spray a small piece of cloth (1" X 1") until wet and push it through the plastic block, pulling it backward & forwards until clean. Don't use CRC56 or WD40 as these may cause the plastic to expand and make the problem worse.

Thanks for the suggestion. WD-40 is all I have around the house (almost exclusively for when door hinges in the house and on the vehicles were squeaky), but I will look into the silicone.

To clarify, you use the silicone to clean the stone arm when done sharpening, and you use it to lubricate the <sharpknives> rod mod assembly?

Then VERY carefully drill out the plastic block hole for the stone arm. So that is the drill size has to be exactly the outside diameter of the brass tube. Cut the brass tube to be about 5mm longer than the hole in the plastic block and carefully insert the brass tube into the block so that a couple of mm of the brass tube extend out of either end of the block. Insert the stone arm and make sure you still do 1,2 & 3 above.

The ultimate solution is to do the <sharpknives> rod mods. This not cheap but is a great solution for the above and other limitations of the EdgePro. There is plenty of posts about this on the old forum.

I was searching the old forums briefly for the <sharpknives> rod mod before I had to start dinner prep. Is it a DIY thing or a "I happily hand someone money to solve the problem and send me the solution" sort of thing?

1) jaleem wrote ~ "This is helpful. I think I thought it needed to be just beyond damp to work. So the water is more about keeping the stone damp, than keeping the metal bits from gumming up in the stone? Just trying to determine if I need to disabuse myself of the idea of 'swarf doing the work' as it concerns the Edge Pro system."

Sorry jaleem I've only given you half the answer here. So I start out as above, but then every dozen or more strokes on each side I turn the stone face side up put on just enough water to make it wet, then rub it down with a microcloth to clean it and leave it moist for the next step & repeat. You'll get the hang of how may strokes after a while, it varies with a whole lot of things and I don't actually count any more. One last thing is I put a few drops of dishwash liquid in each small bottle of water, which I find helps.

2) jaleem wrote ~ "To clarify, you use the silicone to clean the stone arm when done sharpening, and you use it to lubricate the <sharpknives> rod mod assembly?"

For the standard EP set-up I start each sharpening session by cleaning & lubricating the stone arm with silicon spray. Only the bit of the stone arm that doesn’t hold the stone. I also spray silicon onto small amount of fabric and use this to clean & lubricate the hole in the plastic block that the stone arm goes into that’s on the vertical shaft.

4) Sharpknives Rod Mods. He was selling these at the time, but I’ve no idea if he has any left or what, as he hasn’t moved across to the new forum. If it’s something that you want to explore ONE OF THE FORUM MODS might be able to put you in touch. Its pretty much plug & play with the more recent versions of the EP Apex I think. Mine is a really old model & I needed to do some mods.

Hope this helps

Cheers Grant

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!

Joe wrote " I try to keep all stone and metal contact on the table,
mostly to reduce angle discrepancies.
Recently sharpened a few long knives for a friend, like machetes and a stonkin" Gaucho knife.
That's a lot of repositiong, "sectioning" and overlapping!"

Hi Joe, yes I hear you, even with a 240 it can be a mission - machetes, I thought that was files were designed for

Cheers Grant

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!

Lot's of good advice here and I'll add my two cents. For myself, I have found that chatter indicates either a 1) dry stone, 2) dished, unflat, or loaded up stone 3) the stone is not matching the angle of the blade. I have found #3 to be the most common cause of chatter.

Lot's of good advice here and I'll add my two cents. For myself, I have found that chatter indicates either a 1) dry stone, 2) dished, unflat, or loaded up stone 3) the stone is not matching the angle of the blade. I have found #3 to be the most common cause of chatter.

Carry on!

Hi Jason,

Are you talking Edge Pro here?
If so, I'm curious as to which stones you're using.
If I were to set the stone at an angle different from the blade,
it would simply cut at the new angle, no fuss at all.